Water Exercise Series: Resistance Benefits

We’ve all seen the power of water by what happens in flash flooding events.

Trees, cars, buildings are no match. 

Water will WIN every time.

We can take advantage of that force when we exercise IN water.

Water provides 12-14% more resistance than on land.

The more you push, the harder the water pushes back. 

Exercise IN water is not just for cardio workouts like swimming.

You can get a full body, low impact, strength training workout IN water.

A gentle yet challenging way to workout.

It’s great to build strength AND work on your posture and balance.

It’s a safe place for you to exercise if you have pain or arthritis.

Anything you can do on land exercise wise, you can do in the water.

The water can assist or resist your muscles. 

30 minutes of pool exercise can give you the benefits of closer to a 2 hour land workout.

Less time, same or better results.

You can change the intensity by moving:

• deeper to shallow water
• faster to slower
• smaller to larger movements

You can add weights or bands to increase resistance or just use the water itself.

When you change the shape of what you’re pushing or moving through water, it changes the resistance (i.e. hand closed vs open or with a fin vs without).

You can do your arm or leg strength workouts in the water- punch, lift, kick, squat, lunge.

Walking in water is a great full body workout for your strength, cardio, & balance. Walk forward then turn around and walk through the current you just made to increase the resistance and intensity. Do that all directions (front, side, back).

Kick Boards are great for pressing through the water to workout your core and arms or across the water to workout your core and legs.

Group exercise classes in the water are getting more varied lately as well.

Some classes might focus more on strength training vs cardio or do a combo of both. 

I’m seeing more Mind Body Exercise classes pop up especially at the YMCA.

Yoga Aquatic classes or even ‘Ai Chi’ classes that involve breathing & resistance training to relax and strengthen your Body using Qi Gong and Tai Chi Movements.

Water exercise can make your strength training more fun, varied, and full bodied.

Remember to Start Slow!

If you aren’t used to water exercise, start with 15 minutes and build up slowly overtime especially if you have an injury or chronic pain. 

Monitor how you feel into the next day to see if you overdid it or not.

Aim for 2-3 times a week of strength training whether it's on land or in water.
 
NEXT UP: I’ll share how to use water for recovery or rehab.

In the meantime… jump in. The YMCA is one of the best places to find an indoor pool.

If it's Summer where you are right now, you should be able to find an outdoor pool to exercise in. 

*If you have diabetes or cardiac conditions like uncontrolled hypertension, you'll need clearance from your physician to exercise safely in water.

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P.S. Ready to be active & agile at any age? Download your FREE Relaxed Body Toolkit to get started here.